Honda’s next generation Jazz based Urban SUV concept goes to Detroit

The next generation Honda Jazz(Fit in many international markets) platform will spawn no less than three body styles, a hatchback, a sedan and a compact SUV. While the next generation Jazz is the hatchback that the new platform will spawn out, the next generation City sedan will be the sedan body style that Honda will launch in 2014. That leaves us with the SUV body style. Ahead of the Detroit Motor Show, that kicks off later tonight, images of the Honda Urban SUV concept have hit the interweb.

2014 Honda Urban SUV Concept

The compact SUV based on the next generation Jazz platform will take on the likes of the Fiat 500X and the Nissan Juke. For a while now, Honda hasn’t had a compact SUV in its arsenal of cars. Given that compact SUVs are selling very strongly in both developed as well as developing markets, it was only a matter of time before Honda jumped on to the compact SUV brigade. In line with that, the Honda Urban SUV is proof of the Japanese car maker’s intent. The Honda Urban SUV concept is expected to hit the production line in the next 12-18 months.

India is a possible target for the this compact SUV given that both the next generation Jazz hatchback and City sedan will be launched in India over the next couple of years. The Honda Urban SUV will sit below the Honda CR-V and is expected to mainly target urban compact crossover buyers. Decidedly, the Honda Urban SUV looks like a mini CR-V, with the Japanese car maker’s latest design philosophy making its presence felt on the front of the crossover. Also, the curving roof line is a straight hark back to the CR-V’s styling. Looks wise, the Urban SUV isn’t the most appealing types but given Honda’s styling botch ups over the last couple of years, we weren’t expecting mirror cracking material anyway.

2014 Honda Urban SUV Concept

While a petrol engine is expected to be standard on the production version of the Honda Urban SUV, there’s a fat chance that Honda will do diesel variants too. The 1.5 Liter i-DTEC turbo diesel engine that Honda has developed for use in its next generation range of compact cars based on the Jazz and Brio platforms is expected to eventually find its way into the engine bay of the Honda Urban SUV. Expect more details of the latest Honda SUV to be revealed at the official unveiling at Detroit. Until then, keep an eye out on this space.

Related Posts

About Author

jayprashanth

I ride, I blog and I trip. This apart, motorcycles, vintage mechanical watches, people watching, camping and traveling are my other interests. Incidentally, I hold a engineering degree in electronics and work experience in computer networks and professional blogging. I live in Bangalore currently and you could get in touch with me at [email protected]